Demand Planning Manager

D.S. & Durga•New York, NY

1d•$110,000 - $135,000•Hybrid

About The Position

D.S. & Durga’s first dedicated Demand Planning leader will build and own the company’s global demand-planning capability across DTC, owned Retail, North America Wholesale and International Wholesale. The role is a build-from-the-ground-up position, supporting the implementation of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and the development of the company’s S&OP process, planning tools, reporting and cross-functional ways of working while also managing the day-to-day demand plan. Reporting to the Head of Supply Chain & Operations and partnering closely with the Supply Chain Manager, the Demand Planning Manager owns the consensus demand plan and demand-planning process. The role works extensively with Finance, DTC, Retail, North America Wholesale, International, Marketing/GTM, Logistics and Regulatory. It is an individual-contributor position with significant cross-functional influence, requiring independent assessment of commercial forecasts and other imperfect demand signals to create a clear, assumption-based and actionable plan. The role is responsible for establishing a trusted global demand plan, a practical Demand Review and S&OP process, improving forecast accuracy, and identifying inventory risks early. The successful candidate combines demand-planning expertise and commercial judgment with a builder mentality, creating processes, tools and discipline while meeting the business’s ongoing operational needs.

Requirements

5–7+ years of progressive experience in Demand Planning, forecasting, S&OP, inventory planning or closely related supply-chain planning roles.
Demonstrated ownership of SKU-level demand forecasting in a multi-channel consumer business.
Demonstrated experience building or materially upgrading a Demand Planning process, toolset or cross-functional planning capability from an early stage of maturity.
Experience supporting DTC and wholesale/retail channels.
Experience forecasting new product launches and managing product lifecycle transitions.
Experience leading or supporting a Demand Review or S&OP process, including partnership with Finance and Supply Chain.
Strong commercial judgment, communication and cross-functional influencing skills, and ability to operate autonomously in a fast-moving, entrepreneurial environment.
Advanced proficiency in Excel or Google Sheets, including pivot tables, lookups, Power Query and forecasting models.
Experience with an ERP system.
Ability to read, analyze and interpret sales, sell-through and inventory reports, retailer and distributor data, financial reports and system documentation; write SOPs and concise planning summaries; and present information effectively.
Ability to apply percentages, ratios, growth rates, weighted averages and proportions; calculate and interpret forecast accuracy and bias metrics such as MAPE and WMAPE, weeks of supply, safety stock and inventory turns; apply basic statistical forecasting methods; and translate unit demand into revenue, cost and inventory value.
Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, interpret varied demand signals and reconcile commercial inputs into a single plan, including when data is incomplete or inconsistent.
Proficiency with MS Office and/or Google Workspace.
Demonstrated use of AI and automation tools to improve analysis and productivity.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Economics, Statistics, Mathematics, Finance or a related quantitative field.
ASCM/APICS (CPIM) or IBF (CPF) certification.
International or distributor-based planning experience.
Experience in beauty, fragrance, cosmetics, CPG or another launch-intensive consumer category.
Experience implementing or working within a new ERP environment; Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is strongly preferred.
Experience with BI and reporting tools such as Power BI or Jet Reports.
Experience with demand-planning or forecasting software.

Responsibilities

Design and establish the company’s global Demand Planning process, operating cadence, RACI, reporting, methodologies and ways of working.
Establish the demand plan as the single source of truth for forward-looking unit demand and define planning inputs, assumptions, ownership, deadlines and decision rights across functions and channels.
Develop SOPs and documentation, identify data, systems and process gaps, and create a prioritized roadmap to improve planning capability.
Help design and establish an S&OP process appropriate to the company’s scale and complexity.
Own and maintain a rolling 12–18 month global unit demand forecast across DTC, owned Retail, North America Wholesale and International Wholesale.
Develop forecasts at the SKU, channel, customer, market and time granularity needed for production, purchasing, inventory and financial decisions.
Reconcile bottom-up and top-down views, commercial ambition, historical performance and demand signals into a defensible consensus plan.
Incorporate sell-in, sell-through, inventory/WOS, retailer and distributor forecasts, seasonality, commercial plans, marketing activity and market intelligence into forecasts.
Maintain planning assumptions and version control, and distinguish unconstrained demand from supply or inventory constraints.
Own forecasts for new product introductions across channels and markets, from initial sizing and launch phasing through post-launch replenishment.
Partner with Marketing, Commercial, DTC and Operations to translate launch plans, distribution, marketing support and comparable-product performance into unit forecasts.
Build launch scenarios and assess assumptions about newness, incrementality, cannibalization, halo effects and replenishment; conduct post-launch reviews and incorporate learnings.
Forecast testers, samples, gratis, GWPs and other non-saleable requirements, and support product phase-ins, phase-outs and discontinuations.
Serve as the analytical engine of the S&OP process and lead Demand Reviews that consolidate forecasts, launch assumptions, changes, risks and opportunities.
Prepare concise, decision-oriented reporting; partner with Supply Chain on supply requirements, constraints, shortages and inventory risks, and with Finance on revenue, inventory, working capital and cash implications.
Track planning decisions, reflect approved assumptions in the published plan, and maintain weekly exception reporting between formal planning cycles.
Establish and own forecast-performance measures, including accuracy, bias and relevant error metrics by SKU, channel and market; review variances, identify root causes and improve assumptions and methodologies.
Build forward-looking inventory views covering weeks of supply, projected out-of-stock risk, excess and obsolete exposure and inventory concentration.
Partner with Supply Chain on safety-stock and inventory-coverage recommendations; identify demand-driven inventory risks and recommend actions such as production changes, reallocations, replenishment adjustments, promotional support or SKU rationalization.
Provide the Head of Supply Chain & Operations and Leadership Team with visibility into material demand, inventory, service and cash risks and opportunities.
Become a capable user of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and help shape its use for Demand Planning.
Build practical reporting and analytical tools using Business Central, Excel, Power BI/Jet Reports and other appropriate technologies; develop dashboards for demand, forecast performance, sales trends, inventory health and risks.
Reduce fragmented spreadsheets and manual reporting through more automated, reliable and scalable workflows; use AI and automation to accelerate analysis and identify patterns while applying business judgment to outputs.
Evaluate lightweight planning tools as the company grows, prioritizing solutions suitable for its scale.
Partner with Supply Chain, commercial teams, Marketing/GTM, Finance and Leadership to develop a credible consensus demand view and translate analysis into clear implications, scenarios and recommended actions.
Help commercial teams understand their accountability for providing high-quality demand inputs.